Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt will launch an international exploration tender for gold and other minerals such as copper and silver from 15 March to 15 July, the minister of petroleum Tarek El-Molla revealed.

Investors will be given the opportunity to bid on 320 blocks over an area of about 56,000 square kilometres in the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea, El-Molla added in a statement on Tuesday.

Each block, which will cover an area of 170 square kilometres, will be administered under a tax and royalty scheme, El-Molla pointed out.

In a bid to attract investors to the mining sectors, the government made amendments to the mining law, switching to a tax and royalty system instead of the production-sharing system